Dabrowski served as the 38th Governor of Illinois between 1991 and 1996, and as an US Senator for the state between 1999 and 2005.
Born in Chicago to Polish immigrants, Dabrowski served as a high school teacher between 1963 and 1965, when he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, Dabrowski became a prisoner of war and was repeatedly tortured.
After returning home in 1968, Dabrowski started teaching history in a high school, later becoming an economics teacher in the University of Chicago and a friend of Milton Friedman.
In 1980, Dabrowski was elected to the Illinois State House, where he focused on purging corruption from the Illinois government, working closely with Governor James Thompson. In 1985, the state representative became Secretary of Welfare, where he reformed several programs and worked to curb fraud and abuse.
In 1990, Dabrowski was elected Governor of Illinois, succeeding his old boss. As Governor, he developed a reputation as a moderate, conciliatory conservative who worked with the state legislature to reform welfare, lower taxes, implement a "tough on crime" policy focused on organized crime, and provide low-cost school lunches for poor children. During this time, Dabrowski developed an enmity with the Daley family, accusing them of corruption.
In 1994, Dabrowski was reelected by a landslide as Governor, winning every county.
After Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole refused to run for President and endorsed him instead, Dabrowski announced his presidential run on 7 April 1995. The Governor focused on tax cuts and welfare reform, taking a moderate stance on abortion and supporting the Assault Weapons Ban.
Dabrowski's moderate stances caused him to underperform in the polls, and after a loss in the Iowa caucus, he was at the danger of losing the nomination to Buchanan. But Governor Dabrowski laser focused on the New Hampshire primary, attacking Pat Buchanan in the secular state for his religious conservative stances. This paid off, and after winning New Hampshire, Dabrowski Gained momentum, becoming the frontrunner and eventually clinching the nomination.
During the general election campaign, Ron Dabrowski focused on attracting moderates and conservative Democrats by promising tax cuts, welfare reform, a balanced budget amendment and strengthening the war on drugs. Given the Republican Congress' unpopularity, he distanced himself from it and promised not to cut Medicare or Social Security. While this strategy helped him with moderates, it hurt Dabrowski in the South, and accusations of theft against his daughter Lizzie further harmed his candidacy.
In spite of these handicaps, Dabrowski performed strongly at the debates, and remained an inspiring candidate, allowing him to perform decently in the general election.
In spite of losing to Bill Clinton, Dabrowski remained a powerful force in Illinois, and in 1998 was easily elected to the US Senate against Senator Carol Moseley Braun.
As a Senator, Dabrowski continued his moderate streak, working with Democrats on energy, crime, guns and immigration. He endorsed John McCain in 2000 and was a critic of Christian right influence in the Republican Party. However, the Senator supported the Patriot Act, Bush tax cuts and the invasion of Iraq.
In 2004, Senator Dabrowski faced a tough race for reelection against State Senator Barack Obama. Dabrowski emphasized his moderate credentials, but this hurt him with the base, and Barack Obama easily attacked his support for the Iraq War. Given this, Dabrowski lost reelection for nearly the same margin he had been elected to the Senate, underperforming in the Chicago suburbs.
After his second defeat, Ron Dabrowski retired from politics, becoming a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and The New York Times. In 2017, Dabrowski left the Republican Party and became an independent, having endorsed Hillary Clinton the precious year, but voted for Trump in 2020. Currently, he lives in Chicago with his second wife.

Dabrowski served as the 38th Governor of Illinois between 1991 and 1996, and as an US Senator for the state between 1999 and 2005.
Born in Chicago to Polish immigrants, Dabrowski served as a high school teacher between 1963 and 1965, when he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, Dabrowski became a prisoner of war and was repeatedly tortured.
After returning home in 1968, Dabrowski started teaching history in a high school, later becoming an economics teacher in the University of Chicago and a friend of Milton Friedman.
In 1980, Dabrowski was elected to the Illinois State House, where he focused on purging corruption from the Illinois government, working closely with Governor James Thompson. In 1985, the state representative became Secretary of Welfare, where he reformed several programs and worked to curb fraud and abuse.
In 1990, Dabrowski was elected Governor of Illinois, succeeding his old boss. As Governor, he developed a reputation as a moderate, conciliatory conservative who worked with the state legislature to reform welfare, lower taxes, implement a "tough on crime" policy focused on organized crime, and provide low-cost school lunches for poor children. During this time, Dabrowski developed an enmity with the Daley family, accusing them of corruption.
In 1994, Dabrowski was reelected by a landslide as Governor, winning every county.
After Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole refused to run for President and endorsed him instead, Dabrowski announced his presidential run on 7 April 1995. The Governor focused on tax cuts and welfare reform, taking a moderate stance on abortion and supporting the Assault Weapons Ban.
Dabrowski's moderate stances caused him to underperform in the polls, and after a loss in the Iowa caucus, he was at the danger of losing the nomination to Buchanan. But Governor Dabrowski laser focused on the New Hampshire primary, attacking Pat Buchanan in the secular state for his religious conservative stances. This paid off, and after winning New Hampshire, Dabrowski Gained momentum, becoming the frontrunner and eventually clinching the nomination.
During the general election campaign, Ron Dabrowski focused on attracting moderates and conservative Democrats by promising tax cuts, welfare reform, a balanced budget amendment and strengthening the war on drugs. Given the Republican Congress' unpopularity, he distanced himself from it and promised not to cut Medicare or Social Security. While this strategy helped him with moderates, it hurt Dabrowski in the South, and accusations of theft against his daughter Lizzie further harmed his candidacy.
In spite of these handicaps, Dabrowski performed strongly at the debates, and remained an inspiring candidate, allowing him to perform decently in the general election.
In spite of losing to Bill Clinton, Dabrowski remained a powerful force in Illinois, and in 1998 was easily elected to the US Senate against Senator Carol Moseley Braun.
As a Senator, Dabrowski continued his moderate streak, working with Democrats on energy, crime, guns and immigration. He endorsed John McCain in 2000 and was a critic of Christian right influence in the Republican Party. However, the Senator supported the Patriot Act, Bush tax cuts and the invasion of Iraq.
In 2004, Senator Dabrowski faced a tough race for reelection against State Senator Barack Obama. Dabrowski emphasized his moderate credentials, but this hurt him with the base, and Barack Obama easily attacked his support for the Iraq War. Given this, Dabrowski lost reelection for nearly the same margin he had been elected to the Senate, underperforming in the Chicago suburbs.
After his second defeat, Ron Dabrowski retired from politics, becoming a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and The New York Times. In 2017, Dabrowski left the Republican Party and became an independent, having endorsed Hillary Clinton the precious year, but voted for Trump in 2020. Currently, he lives in Chicago with his second wife.

Jesse Ventura's time as President is coming to an end, and it's ending amidst a roller coaster of an election. Since 1992, with the election of Donald Trump, the Democrats have run the show in D.C., championing centrism amidst the right wing party of the Republicans and the left wing party of the Progressives. Much has been accomplished since then: The U.S. has grown in power and influence among the Three Brothers Alliance with the Confederacy and Texas, even diplomatically distancing itself from the former. The economy has been overall quite strong, which has not come at the cost of green domestic policy thanks to the Democrats' walking of the pro-environmental and pro-business tightrope, though a recession appears on the horizon.
And now, it's time for the Union to choose once more. Who will they elect for President?

Joe Biden (D-DE)

VP: Mitt Romney (D-MA)
Nominated by the Democrats to succeed President Ventura was Secretary of State Joe Biden of Delaware, who chose the Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney (a recent convert to the Democrats from the Republicans) as his running mate. While Biden wasn't the most energizing or exciting candidate, he was a sound choice, and tirelessly campaigned to keep the Democrats strong.

John Kasich (R-OH)

VP: Pete Wilson (R-CA)
Back for another round after his loss in 2004, John Kasich of Ohio sent a message to the nascent Whig Party: Good riddance. Republicans knew for a fact that outright victory was impossible, so Kasich's objective this election was simple, if challenging: Make the Republican case, keep the Party strong.

Rocky Anderson (P-UT)

VP: Tom Vilsack (P-IA)
Perhaps the rockiest path to Presidential nomination was that of Rocky Anderson of Utah. While he wasn't the winner outright, he was able to secure the nomination at the expense of John Kerry, who himself thought he had a shot at victory. The Progressives saw that the Presidency was winnable, so Anderson campaigned vigorously.

George W. Bush (W-CO)

VP: Tommy Thompson (W-WI)
The goal of the Whigs was simple: Build on what was won in 2004 and spread the Whigs' message and platform. To this end, George W. Bush, who was previously nominated in 2004, secured the nomination once more. Yet, shocking the whole of the Party, Bush did not choose Dick Cheney as his running mate again. Questions wracked the Party, and Bush kept quiet on the matter, but Bush was a founder of the Party, and a hugely popular figurehead.
Four candidates, four parties, one election. But how did the States vote? In order called, they...

Delaware (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Joe Biden's Home State was never in question.

District of Columbia (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

D.C. has quite enjoyed the Democrats of late, and quickly was declared for Biden.

Minnesota (10 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Jesse Ventura's endorsement was more than enough to get Minnesota to vote for Biden, and he won the State by well over 10 points.

Vermont (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Anderson/Vilsack)

Vermont is the home State of previous Progressive candidate and Party darling Howard Dean, and was won by a comfortable margin.

Rhode Island (4 Electoral Votes; Carried by Anderson/Vilsack)

It took some time, due to Democrat challenges, but Rhode Island was called for Rocky Anderson.

Nevada (5 Electoral Votes; Carried by Bush/Thompson)

Outgoing Nevada Governor Jeb Bush was instrumental, and his endorsement carried his big brother to a win in Nevada. This win, and so early on, was seen as a big win by the Whigs.

Massachusetts (12 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

In a shock twist, disaffected Progressive Senator and failed Presidential nominee candidate John Kerry announced his support for Biden and Romney. Between this and Romney being the Governor, a State that was expected to narrowly vote Progressive instead went to the Democrats by a rather comfortable margin. This was a massive blow to the Anderson campaign, and the first sign that things were going in a bad direction...

New Hampshire (4 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Kerry's appeal in New England didn't stop at Massachusetts, as New Hampshire was also carried by Biden and Romney.

Maine (4 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Maine was expected to vote for Biden and Romney regardless.

Connecticut (7 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Failed Democrat candidate and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman denounced Biden and endorsed Kasich. Whether this helped or hurt Biden is anyone's guess, as Biden won Connecticut regardless.

Iowa (7 Electoral Votes; Carried by Anderson/Vilsack)

A strongly Progressive State and the home State of VP nominee Tom Vilsack, Iowa was some much-needed good news for the Progressives.

Idaho (4 Electoral Votes; Carried by Bush/Thompson)

The Republicans tried, and failed, to keep Idaho out of Whig hands. With this, the Whigs' goal was largely accomplished; Nobody could doubt anymore that the Whigs were more than just a fluke.

Wisconsin (10 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

It was close between the Democrats and the Progressives, with a few Whig districts here and there, but Biden carried the day in Wisconsin.

North Dakota (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

As Midwest votes began to come in more and more, North Dakota finally put Kasich on the board.

South Dakota (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

The Whigs put up a fight in the Dakotas, but Republicans flipped South Dakota back to red from the blue it became in 2004.

Indiana (11 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Biden's appeal to Rust Belt business was instrumental here, and Indiana was declared for Biden.

Maryland (10 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Maryland's election featured a shocking number of Whigs and Republicans coming out of the woodwork, but went to Biden regardless.

Kansas (6 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

Kansas has reliably voted Republican since 1988 and, although the Whigs came out in force, Kasich carried the day.

Colorado (9 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

Perhaps the biggest gutpunch the Whigs could have received, the Home State of George W. Bush wasn't just lost, but lost to his direct rival. Despite being asked to concede the election now, former Governor Bush stayed in the race, either on principle or out of spite.

Utah (5 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

Utah was close. The Republicans beat out everyone else by fewer than 100 votes.

New Jersey (15 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

New Jersey was Biden's back yard, and comfortable carried the Democrats.

Nebraska (5 Electoral Votes; Carried by Anderson/Vilsack)

in a minor accomplishment for Progressives, Nebraska was flipped green after having voted Republican for the last 4 elections.

Illinois (21 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

With this win, the Biden campaign was knocking on the door of winning the election, and the Anderson campaign conceded the election.

Wyoming (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Kasich/Wilson)

Whigs were left with jaws on the floor as Wyoming, a State they felt comfortable winning, was carried by Kasich. The Ohioan's "Red West" strategy for this election was paying off better than even he expected.

Montana (3 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Perhaps the closest State of all, Montana was kept out of Republican and Whig hands by less than a percentage point.

Oregon (7 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Progressives have always been a challenge in Oregon, but Biden carried the State.

Washington (11 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

A comfortable win for the Democrats, and now it was all but certain Biden was the winner.

Michigan (17 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Biden came one step closer to a Rust Belt sweep by winning over Michigan with his (and his running mate's) pro-business policy.

Ohio (20 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

With this win, Biden swept the Rust Belt, and all knew his victory was inevitable. Anderson and Kasich conceded the election, and only Bush remained, again, either out of principle or spite.

California (55 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

With this win, Biden finally crossed the finish line, and won the election of 2008. Anything past this was a victory lap.

New York (31 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Progressives poured everything they possibly could in to New York, but Trump's endorsement made victory for Biden inevitable.

Pennsylvania (21 Electoral Votes; Carried by Biden/Romney)

Biden's native Pennsylvania was supposed to be a sure thing, and to be sure it did carry the Democrats, but Republicans came within a hair's breadth of winning the State.

Totals:

Biden/Romney (D): 274 EVs (42.2% of PV)
Kasich/Wilson (R): 29 EVs (15.7% of PV)
Anderson/Vilsack (P): 19 EVs (31.0% of PV)
Bush/Thompson (W): 9 EVs (11.1% of PV)
​
Joe Biden (D-DE), 40th President of the United States
It's often said you can't predict politics, and this election has shown that that is both true and not. While Biden was the odds-on favorite, due to endorsements from both the popular former President Donald Trump and the popular incumbent Jesse Ventura, the fact remains that, Progressives aside, everyone, on some level, accomplished what they set out to do. The Democrats held the White House and Majority in the Senate, though they're reduced in the House. The Republicans kept their Party strong, and now Republicans are already talking about another run with Kasich in 2012, his words, actions, and opinions vindicated twice now. The Whigs built on their successes from 2004, and boosted their numbers to carry more States.
There's a number of things that will have to be addressed in the coming years. Will Kasich run again in 2012? Does he have a chance? What will happen to Rocky Anderson, since it's all but certain Vilsack won't accept second fiddle if he decides to try once more in 2012? And what of Kerry? What does the future hold for him? Where do the Whigs go from here, as some start to wonder if they're seeing cracks starting to form in the Party's foundation?
Regardless, Biden has cause to celebrate. Champagne and ice cream all around, Mr. Secretary! Soon to be "Mr. President!"
​
The Election Map

​
In 1830, at President Andrew Jackson’s urging, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in order to free up land for the nation’s expanding white population.
The act granted the president the power to negotiate treaties with Native American tribes to relinquish their lands east of the Mississippi River in exchange for unsettled lands west of the river.
While some Indians complied peacefully, the Cherokee, among other tribes, resisted. In 1838, U.S. troops rounded up the Cherokees from their traditional lands in the southern Appalachians, held them in camps then forced them to relocate to Indian Territory, in present-day Oklahoma.
An estimated 15,000 to 16,000 Cherokee people made the grueling journey west, following one of several routes that collectively became known as the Trail of Tears. Along the way, some 3,000 to 4,000 of them died from disease, malnutrition and exposure.
Check out seven facts about this infamous chapter in American history.
Davy Crockett objected to Indian removal.
Frontiersman Davy Crockett, whose grandparents were killed by Creeks and Cherokees, was a scout for Andrew Jackson during the Creek War (1813-14). However, while serving as a U.S. congressman from Tennessee, Crockett broke with President Jackson over the Indian Removal Act, calling it unjust. Despite warnings that his opposition to Indian removal would cost him his seat in Congress, where he’d served since 1827, Crockett said, “I would sooner be honestly and politically damned than hypocritically immortalized.” The year after the act’s 1830 passage, Crockett lost his bid for reelection. After being voted back into office in 1833, he continued to express his opposition to Jackson’s policy and wrote that he would leave the U.S. for the “wildes of Texas” if Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s vice president, succeeded him in the White House. After Crockett was again defeated for reelection, in 1835, he did go to Texas, where he died fighting at the Alamo in March 1836.
Renegade Cherokees signed a treaty selling all tribal lands.
John Ross, who was of Scottish and Cherokee ancestry and became the tribe’s principal chief in 1828, was strongly opposed to giving up the Cherokees’ ancestral lands, as were the majority of the Cherokee people. However, a small group within the tribe believed it was inevitable that white settlers would keep encroaching on their lands and therefore the only way to preserve Cherokee culture and survive as a tribe was to move west. In 1835, while Ross was away, this minority faction signed a treaty at New Echota, the Cherokee Nation capital (located in Georgia), agreeing to sell the U.S. government all tribal lands in the East in exchange for $5 million and new land in the West. As part of the agreement, the government was supposed help cover the Cherokees’ moving costs and pay to support them during their first year in Indian Territory. When Ross found out about the treaty, he argued it had been made illegally. Nevertheless, in 1836 it was ratified by a single vote in the U.S. Senate and signed by President Jackson. The treaty gave the Cherokees two years to vacate their lands. In June 1839, after the Cherokees had been forced to relocate to Indian Territory, several leaders of the so-called Treaty Party, who’d advocated for the New Echota agreement, were assassinated by tribe members who’d opposed removal to the west.
Martin Van Buren ordered the roundup of the Cherokees.
During his two terms in the White House, from 1829 to 1837, Andrew Jackson was responsible for putting Indian removal policies in place; however, he left office before the 1838 deadline for the Cherokees to surrender their lands in the East. It was Jackson’s presidential successor, Martin Van Buren, who ordered General Winfield Scott to forcibly evict the Cherokees. Scott’s troops rounded up thousands of Cherokees and then imprisoned them in forts in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama. During these roundups, the Indians weren’t given time to pack and family members, including children, sometimes got left behind if they weren’t home when the soldiers showed up. The Indians were transferred from the forts to detention camps, most of them in Tennessee, to await deportation. At both the forts and camps, living conditions were bleak and diseases rampant, and an unknown number of Cherokees died.
The Trail of Tears wasn’t just one route.
The first group of Cherokees departed Tennessee in June 1838 and headed to Indian Territory by boat, a journey that took them along the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi and Arkansas rivers. Heat and extended drought soon made travel along this water route impractical, so that fall and winter thousands more Cherokees were forced to trek from Tennessee to present-day Oklahoma via one of several overland routes. Federal officials allowed Chief John Ross to take charge of these overland removals, and he organized the Indians into 13 groups, each comprised of nearly a thousand people. Although there were some wagons and horses, most people had to walk.
The route followed by the largest number of Cherokees—12,000 people or more, according to some estimates—was the northern route, a distance of more than 800 miles through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and into Indian Territory. The last groups of Cherokees made it to Indian Territory in March 1839. A century later, Route 66, the iconic highway established in 1926, overlapped with part of this route, from Rolla to Springfield, Missouri.
​
Not all Cherokees left the Southeast.
A small group of Cherokee people managed to remain in North Carolina, either as a result of an 1819 agreement that enabled them to stay on their land there, or because they hid in the mountains from the U.S. soldiers sent to capture them. The group, which also included people who walked back from Indian Territory, became known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Today, the group has approximately 12,500 members, who live primarily in western North Carolina on the 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary.
​
The Cherokees rebuilt in Indian Territory.
In the first years after their arrival in Indian Territory, life was difficult for many Cherokees. However, under the leadership of Chief Ross the tribe rebuilt in the 1840s and 1850s, establishing businesses and a public school system and publishing what was then America’s only tribal newspaper. When the U.S. Civil War broke out, the Cherokee Nation found itself politically divided. Ross initially believed the Cherokees should remain neutral in the conflict, but there was a faction who supported the South so the chief made an alliance with the Confederacy, in part to try to keep the Cherokees united. Ross soon grew disillusioned with the Confederates, who had abandoned their promises of protection and supplies to the Indians. Ross spent the rest of the war in Philadelphia, where his second wife had a home (his first wife died while walking the Trail of Tears) and Washington, D.C., trying to convince President Abraham Lincoln that the Cherokees were loyal to the Union. Ross died of illness on August 1, 1866, having served as principal chief for nearly 40 years.
The U.S. apologized to Native American groups in 2009.
In December 2009, President Barack Obama signed a bill that included an official apology to all American Indian tribes for past injustices. U.S. Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota led a bipartisan effort to pass the resolution, which stated: “the United States, acting through Congress…recognizes that there have been years of official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the Federal Government regarding Indian tribes.” However, the resolution did not call for reparations and included a disclaimer that it wasn’t meant to support any legal claims against the United States.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations.
By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States.
Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River.
This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears.
THE “INDIAN PROBLEM”
White Americans, particularly those who lived on the western frontier, often feared and resented the Native Americans they encountered:
To them, American Indians seemed to be an unfamiliar, alien people who occupied land that white settlers wanted (and believed they deserved).
Some officials in the early years of the American republic, such as President George Washington, believed that the best way to solve this “Indian problem” was simply to “civilize” the Native Americans.
The goal of this civilization campaign was to make Native Americans as much like white Americans as possible by encouraging them convert to Christianity, learn to speak and read English, and adopt European-style economic practices such as the individual ownership of land and other property (including, in some instances in the South, African slaves).
In the southeastern United States, many Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee people embraced these customs and became known as the “Five Civilized Tribes.”
Indian removal took place in the Northern states as well.
In Illinois and Wisconsin, for example, the bloody Black Hawk War in 1832 opened to white settlement millions of acres of land that had belonged to the Sauk, Fox and other native nations.
But their land, located in parts of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, was valuable, and it grew to be more coveted as white settlers flooded the region.
Many of these whites yearned to make their fortunes by growing cotton, and they did not care how “civilized” their native neighbors were:
They wanted that land and they would do almost anything to get it.
They stole livestock; burned and looted houses and towns;, and squatted on land that did not belong to them.
State governments joined in this effort to drive Native Americans out of the South.
Several states passed laws limiting Native American sovereignty and rights and encroaching on their territory. In a few cases, such as Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the U.S. Supreme Court objected to these practices and affirmed that native nations were sovereign nations “in which the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force.”
Even so, the maltreatment continued.
As President Andrew Jackson noted in 1832, if no one intended to enforce the Supreme Court’s rulings (which he certainly did not), then the decisions would “[fall]…still born.” Southern states were determined to take ownership of Indian lands and would go to great lengths to secure this territory.
INDIAN REMOVAL
Andrew Jackson had long been an advocate of what he called “Indian removal.”
As an Army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida–campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers.
As president, he continued this crusade.
In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the “Indian colonization zone” that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
(This “Indian territory” was located in present-day Oklahoma.)
The law required the government to negotiate removal treaties fairly, voluntarily and peacefully: It did not permit the president or anyone else to coerce Native nations into giving up their land.
However, President Jackson and his government frequently ignored the letter of the law and forced Native Americans to vacate lands they had lived on for generations.
In the winter of 1831, under threat of invasion by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled from its land altogether.
They made the journey to Indian territory on foot (some “bound in chains and marched double file,” one historian writes) and without any food, supplies or other help from the government.
Thousands of people died along the way.
It was, one Choctaw leader told an Alabama newspaper, a “trail of tears and death.”
THE TRAIL OF TEARS
The Indian-removal process continued. In 1836, the federal government drove the Creeks from their land for the last time: 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks who set out for Oklahoma did not survive the trip.
The Cherokee people were divided:
What was the best way to handle the government’s determination to get its hands on their territory?
Some wanted to stay and fight.
Others thought it was more pragmatic to agree to leave in exchange for money and other concessions.
In 1835, a few self-appointed representatives of the Cherokee nation negotiated the Treaty of New Echota, which traded all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi for $5 million, relocation assistance and compensation for lost property.
To the federal government, the treaty was a done deal, but many of the Cherokee felt betrayed:
After all, the negotiators did not represent the tribal government or anyone else.
“The instrument in question is not the act of our nation,” wrote the nation’s principal chief, John Ross, in a letter to the U.S. Senate protesting the treaty.
“We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people.”
Nearly 16,000 Cherokees signed Ross’s petition, but Congress approved the treaty anyway.
By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had left their Georgia homeland for Indian territory. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the removal process.
Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while whites looted their homes and belongings.
Then, they marched the Indians more than 1,200 miles to Indian territory.
Whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation were epidemic along the way, and historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the journey.
By 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans had been driven off of their land in the southeastern states and forced to move across the Mississippi to Indian territory.
The federal government promised that their new land would remain unmolested forever, but as the line of white settlement pushed westward, “Indian country” shrank and shrank.
In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian territory was gone for good.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
Trail of Tears
​
"I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west....On the morning of November the 17th we encountered a terrific sleet and snow storm with freezing temperatures and from that day until we reached the end of the fateful journey on March the 26th 1839, the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. And I have known as many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold and exposure..."
​
Private John G. Burnett, Captain Abraham McClellan's Company, 2nRegiment, 2nd Brigade, Mounted Infantry, Cherokee Indian Removal, 1838-39
​
Timeline
1700- Settlers continued to increase their number by birth and by immigration. There wasn’t enough land to go around so the settlers moved ever westward. More land was needed for tobacco plantations, as England demanded ever mote taxes. The Cherokees would leave a hunting territory for a few seasons to allow the wildlife to recover. When they returned they found the forest cut, dozens of cabins, and no wildlife in sight. The Cherokees would try to scare the settlers away, but the settlers had guns. When the settlers won, they called it an Indian war. When the Indians won, the white men called it a massacre.
​
1750 - The King of England made treaties with the Indians and gave them ‘King’s Grants’ to the land they claimed. The British sent soldiers to protect the boundaries and to regulate the fur trade between the Indians and the colonies. Soldiers took Indian wives and began calling the children after their own family names. Traders and Indian Agents caught smallpox in the settlements and rapidly spread it to the Indians who had no immunity. Within a few short years, the Indian population was reduced to about one-tenth of its original size.
The traders offered guns for furs. The Indians slaughtered hundreds of animals for furs to trade, and when they looked for game to eat, it had been nearly wiped out. The Cherokees would leave an area to let the game recover, and the settlers took this as a sign that the Indians had abandoned the land, and move in.
​
1775 – During the Revolutionary war, the Cherokees took the side of the British and attacked white settlements in their territory. After the war, many British soldiers decided to stay in the Cherokee Nation with their families. The new American government refused to honor the earlier ‘King’s Grants’ and sent the American Army to force the Cherokees to sign new treaties, which required them to give up more land.
​
By 1800, the Cherokee Nation had shrunk to less than ¼ of it’s original size. Most Cherokees had retreated to lands in northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Many had adopted white ways. The US government and the State of Georgia adopted anti-Indian policies, and used soldiers to enforce the new laws.
​
1812 – General Andrew Jackson wanted to drive out the Indians, but they were too strong for his army. He settled on a policy of divide and conquer. He started the French and Indian War of 1812 with the help of the Cherokees, they thought that by helping Andy Jackson drive out the Creek Indians, they would be given special treatment and left alone by the whites. Chief Tecumseh, of the Shawnee, tried to unify the remaining Indian Nations in a last ditch stand to resist the white invasion. In 1813, Chief Tecumseh died in battle and his dreams of a unified Indian Nation died with him.
​
1815 – The US government forced or tricked many Cherokees into signing treaties to trade their lands for land in Arkansas and Oklahoma. About half of the Cherokees left for the New Territories and became known as the Old Settlers.
​
1828 – Andrew Jackson was elected president, and Gold was discovered in Georgia. The US government was split as to protect the Cherokees land claims, or to let Georgia drive them out. Gold fever swept the south. Miners and get rich quick scam artists invaded Cherokee Territory murdering, raping, and burning. Chief James Vann, a district judge for the Cherokees, captured, tried and hung the criminals. Georgia threatened war over the outrage of Cherokees hanging white men. The Cherokees sent lawyers and statesmen to court to argue their case. The federal government had given them treaties for the land and they should be protected from the citizens and army of Georgia. Georgia governor, George Gilmore stated, “Treaties were a means by which ignorant, intractable, and savage people were induced to yield what Civilized Peoples had a right to possess.”
​
1830 – The US Supreme Court decided in favor of protecting the Cherokees land rights. President Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court and sent the army to Georgia to drive out the Cherokees. Jackson proclaimed, “Justice John Marshall has rendered his decision, now let him enforce it.” President Jackson signed the ‘Indian Removal Act’, which required the forced removal of all Indians east of the Mississippi River to the new ‘vacant’ land obtained in the “Louisiana Purchase, to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes for as long as they shall occupy it”. Between 1830 and 1839, hundreds of Cherokee families fled the district, to Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Even while these cases were being argued in court, the state of Georgia organized a land lottery to divide up the Cherokee Nation into farms and gold claims.
​
1831 – The Choctaws were driven from their homes in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The federal government had agreed to pay to feed and clothe the Indians on their journey, but the money never came.
​
1836 – The Creeks were driven out at the point of a gun, put in chains and forced-marched by the US Army. Some 3,500 men women and children died of hunger and exposure along the way.
​
1837 – The Chickasaw loaded their belongings on wagons and headed west. The Seminoles chose to fight. After a long bloody war, the survivors were herded like cattle into any boat that would float and taken across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi.
​
1838 – Seven thousand federal troops, under the command of General Winfield Scott, were dispatched to the Cherokee Nation. Without warning, the troops broke down doors and drug people away to stockades. Those that moved too slowly were prodded with bayonets. In October, the Cherokees were herded into wooden stockades with no food, water, blankets, or sanitation. Most of them were barefoot and had no coats or blankets, yet they were forced to cross rivers in sub-zero weather.
​
They were forced-marched, with army guards, as far north as Indiana, on their way to Oklahoma. Thousands of men, women, and children froze to death, died of starvation and disease. The soldiers forced the Cherokees to abandon their dead at the side of the road. What few pitiful possessions they owned, had to be dropped at the side of the road in order to carry the sick and dying. Soldiers and settlers plundered the ancient Cherokee burial grounds for buried treasure. Family possessions left behind were plundered and burned. Of the 22,000 Cherokees who started this death-march, some 5,500 died on the way. One thousand six hundred Freedmen walked the Trail of Tears along with the rest of Cherokee.
​
At the plantation of Spring Place, the Georgia Guard threw a burning log onto the stairs to smoke out the people that lived there. The man who had won the house in the Georgia state lottery was there, urging the soldiers on to get ‘those people’ out of ‘his’ house. The Georgia Guard drove the missionaries out of their homes and school nearby, and turned it into a brothel for the army.
​
The witnesses
​
A guard (some years later) wrote, “I fought through the War (Civil War), and I saw men shot to pieces and slaughtered by the thousands, but the Cherokee Removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.”
​
A traveler from Maine wrote “Aging females, apparently nearly ready to drop into the grave, were traveling with heavy burdens attached to their backs – on frozen ground with no covering for their feet except what nature had given them. We learned from the inhabitants of the road where the Indians passed that they buried fourteen or fifteen at each stopping place.”
​
John G Burnett, a soldier who participated in the Removal wrote, “Men working in fields were arrested and driven into stockades. Women were dragged from their homes, by soldiers whose language they did not understand. Children were separated from their parents and driven into stockades with the sky for a blanket and the earth for a pillow. The old and infirm were prodded with bayonets to hasten them to the stockades. In one home, death had come during the night, a sad faced little child had died and was lying on a bear skin couch and some women were preparing the little boy for burial. All were arrested and driven out, leaving the dead child in the cabin. I don’t know who buried the body.
In another home was a frail mother, apparently a widow and three small children, one just a baby. When told that she must go, the mother gathered the children at her feet, prayed a humble prayer in her native tongue, patted the old family dog on the head, told the faithful creature goodbye, with a baby strapped on her back and leading a child with each hand, started on her exile. But the task was too great for the frail mother. A stroke of heart failure relieved her suffering. She sunk and died with her baby on her back, and her other two children clinging to her hands”
​
​
The survivors
​
Butrick: Butrick crossed the Ohio on Dec. 15, 1838, he didn't see the Mississippi River until Jan. 25. Even then, it took three more weeks to get all the people in his contingent crossed. From the time the first contingent crossed the Ohio in November to the last part of Butrick's group in February, The Cherokees spent three months in Southern Illinois.
According to Butrick's diary, by Dec. 29, 1838, the detachments were spread out across the region. "One detachment stopped at the Ohio River, two at the Mississippi, one four miles this side, one 16 miles this side, one 18 miles, and one 13 miles behind us. In all these detachments, comprising about 8,000 souls, there is now a vast amount of sickness, and many deaths," wrote Butrick who himself was suffering from fever and a cough.
​
Quatie Ross: Although suffering from a cold, Quatie Ross, the Chief John Ross wife, gave her only blanket to a child. "Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave Old Nation. Women cry and make sad wails, Children cry and many men cry...but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much." She died of pneumonia at Little Rock. Some drank stagnant water and succumbed to disease. One survivor told how his father got sick and died; then, his mother; then, one by one, his five brothers and sisters. "One each day. Then all are gone."
​
Samuel Cloud: Samuel Cloud turned 9 years old on the Trail of Tears. Samuel's Memory is told by his great-great grandson, Micheal Rutledge, in his paper Forgiveness in the Age of Forgetfulness. Micheal, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a law student at Arizona State University.
​
It is Spring. The leaves are on the trees. I am playing with my friends when white men in uniforms ride up to our home. My mother calls me. I can tell by her voice that something is wrong. Some of the men ride off. My mother tells me to gather my things, but the men don't allow us time to get anything. They enter our home and begin knocking over pottery and looking into everything. My mother and I are taken by several men to where their horses are and are held there at gun point. The men who rode off return with my father, Elijah. They have taken his rifle and he is walking toward us.
I can feel his anger and frustration. There is nothing he can do. From my mother I feel fear. I am filled with fear, too. What is going on? I was just playing, but now my family and my friends' families are gathered together and told to walk at the point of a bayonet.
We walk a long ways. My mother does not let me get far from her. My father is walking by the other men, talking in low, angry tones. The soldiers look weary, as though they'd rather be anywhere else but here.
​
They lead us to a stockade. They herd us into this pen like we are cattle. No one was given time to gather any possessions. The nights are still cold in the mountains and we do not have enough blankets to go around. My mother holds me at night to keep me warm. That is the only time I feel safe. I feel her pull me to her tightly. I feel her warm breath in my hair. I feel her softness as I fall asleep at night.
​
As the days pass, more and more of our people are herded into the stockade. I see other members of my clan. We children try to play, but the elders around us are anxious and we do not know what to think. I often sit and watch the others around me. I observe the guards. I try not to think about my hunger. I am cold.
​
Several months have passed and still we are in the stockades. My father looks tired. He talks with the other men, but no one seems to know what to do or what is going to happen. We hear that white men have moved into our homes and are farming our fields. What will happen to us? We are to march west to join the Western Cherokees. I don't want to leave these mountains.
My mother, my aunts and uncles take me aside one day. "Your father died last night," they tell me. My mother and my father's clan members are crying, but I do not understand what this means. I saw him yesterday. He was sick, but still alive. It doesn't seem real. Nothing seems real. I don't know what any of this means. It seems like yesterday, I was playing with my friends.
It is now Fall. It seems like forever since I was clean. The stockade is nothing but mud. In the morning it is stiff with frost. By mid-afternoon, it is soft and we are all covered in it. The soldiers suddenly tell us we are to follow them. We are led out of the stockade. The guards all have guns and are watching us closely. We walk. My mother keeps me close to her. I am allowed to walk with my uncle or an aunt, occasionally.
​
We walk across the frozen earth. Nothing seems right anymore. The cold seeps through my clothes. I wish I had my blanket. I remember last winter I had a blanket, when I was warm. I don't feel like I'll ever be warm again. I remember my father's smile. It seems like so long ago.
We walked for many days. I don't know how long it has been since we left our home, but the mountains are behind us. Each day, we start walking a little later. They bury the dead in shallow graves, because the ground is frozen. As we walk past white towns, the whites come out to watch us pass. No words are spoken to them. No words are said to us. Still, I wish they would stop staring. I wish it were them walking in this misery and I were watching them. It is because of them that we are walking. I don't understand why, but I know that much. They made us leave our homes. They made us walk to this new place we are heading in the middle of winter. I do not like these people. Still, they stare at me as I walk past.
​
My mother is coughing now. She looks worn. Her hands and face are burning hot. My aunts and uncles try to take care of me, so she can get better. I don't want to leave her alone. I just want to sit with her. I want her to stroke my hair, like she used to do. My aunts try to get me to sleep by them, but at night, I creep to her side. She coughs and it wracks her whole body. When she feels me by her side, she opens her blanket and lets me in. I nestle against her feverish body. I can make it another day, I know, because she is here.
​
When I went to sleep last night, my mother was hot and coughing worse than usual. When I woke up, she was cold. I tried to wake her up, but she lay there. The soft warmth she once was, she is no more. I kept touching her, as hot tears stream down my face. She couldn't leave me. She wouldn't leave me.
​
I hear myself call her name, softly, then louder. She does not answer. My aunt and uncle come over to me to see what is wrong. My aunt looks at my mother. My uncle pulls me from her. My aunt begins to wail. I will never forget that wail. I did not understand when my father died. My mother's death I do not understand, but I suddenly know that I am alone. My clan will take care of me, but I will be forever denied her warmth, the soft fingers in my hair, her gentle breath as we slept. I am alone. I want to cry. I want to scream in rage. I can do nothing.
​
We bury her in a shallow grave by the road. I will never forget that lonesome hill of stone that is her final bed, as it fades from my sight. I tread softly by my uncle, my hand in his. I walk with my head turned, watching that small hill as it fades from my sight. The soldiers make us continue walking. My uncle talks to me, trying to comfort me. I walk in loneliness.
​
I know what it is to hate. I hate those white soldiers who took us from our home. I hate the soldiers who make us keep walking through the snow and ice toward this new home that none of us ever wanted. I hate the people who killed my father and mother.
​
I hate the white people who lined the roads in their woolen clothes that kept them warm, watching us pass. None of those white people are here to say they are sorry that I am alone. None of them care about me or my people. All they ever saw was the color of our skin. All I see is the color of theirs and I hate them.
There were ten million Native Americans on this continent when the first non-Indians arrived. Over the next 300 years, 90% of all Native American original population was either wiped out by disease, famine, or warfare imported by the whites.
By 1840 all the eastern tribes had been subdued, annihilated or forcibly removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.